POMC ae IT ae es? 
. es 


a RR Rada 


Pai ey 


Perea oe 


si 


2 





“ 
rus 





tes 











‘en Commandments 
See 
é } i | D, 
‘ ? | 4 j 
? ; j 
oe, pe \ i 


; 
——— 


¥ : 


Ernest Thompson Seton 





ot the Gheologicgs Bin 
ayy 


PRINCETON, N. J. 


wo 


Presented by \ . ue Crreen CN) Ay 


| 


| 


a. y, . =) | 
Division .. Q a i Cw 


3 t .) & 
SCCULON ..0ecceeek (een : 


oe 
iy 


ni 








4 ‘ 
ayy ” 
i Var Te 
io a op % >: 


aay 





Peas iy, 
Pen 


ia 
ey ia 2) 
Mi aT Hl phe 
oes 
i 
A ry 


Pa ey , “aa hy 


4 
th 


| 
van : 
' 


af 
Yr 





The 
Natural History 


of the 
Ten Commandments 


a 


He iaage Few 
‘ ul 


ac : + 7. a eee: 


1 % 
Ws acy! . 


4 


if i i (lag 


a 


Vy aia un 


babar days ue ee 


4 


id Ath whith 





The 


Natural History 
of the 
Ten Commandments 


By 


Fo 
of 


Ernest Thompson Seton 





New York 


Charles Scribner’s Sons 
MCMVII 


Copyright, 1907, by 


Ernest Thompson Seton 





Published, November, 1907 


Dedicated to 
The Beasts of the Field 
By a Hunter 


an 
oe Ute 

fi ms 
AM a iret a 
Pan SSR | 
; Ries 9 


Wit ict 


AL) 
Vv 
¥ 


rth A 


arte Nad 
7 





The 
Natural History 


of the 
Ten Commandments 


The Ten Commandments 


I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 


II, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven im- 
age, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, 
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water 
under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God ama 
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon * 
the children unto the third and fourth generation of 
them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thou- 
sands of them that love me, and keep my command- 
ments. 

III, Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy 
God in vain; for the LoRD will not hold him guiltless 
that taketh his name in vain. 

IV. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. 
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But 
the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: 
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor 
thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor 
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the 
sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh 
day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, 
and hallowed it. 

V. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days 
may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God 
giveth thee. 


VI. Thou shalt not kill. 

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

VIII. Thou shalt not steal. 

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbour. 


X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou 
shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man- 
servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, 
nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. 


INAbe than one heathen phi- 
losopher conceived creation 
as a tree with its roots in the nether 
world, its fruit in the skies. Had 
these men been other than heathen, 
we to-day might have called them 
inspired. They outlined in ad- 
vance the view of modern science, 
that the universe is an organic 
whole, a thing of growth, with 
ceaseless upward struggle. 
Darwin and his school taught us 
the literal verity of this in material 
things. 
Modern psychologists are daily 
discovering its truth in their own 


fields. 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


Possibly we may go further and 
find it apply equally in the moral 
world. 

A theory 1s a great aid to study. 

It helps one to observe, provided 
always one does not cut the facts 
to fit the theory, but rather keeps 
changing the theory to fit the new 
facts. 

Years ago I set for my theory 
that: The Ten Commandments are 
not avbutrary laws given to man, 
but are fundamental laws of all 
highly developed animats. 

If this be true I shall be aple 
to trace them through the animal 
world. We can learn an unwrit- 
ten law only by breaking it and 
suffering the penalty. My task 

4 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


therefore was to discover among 
the animals disaster following 
breach of the ten great principles 
on which human society is founded. 

There are two disasters com- 
monly discernible: the first 1s, 
direct punishment of the individ- 
ual by those he wronged; the 
other, a slow and general visita- 
tion on the whole race of the 
criminal, as the working out of 
the law. The former, the objec- 
tive, is more obvious; the latter, 
the subjective, more important. 
But they are fundamentally the 
same, since the agents in the first 
case were impelled by their own 
recognition that wrong had been 
done, that a law had been broken. 

5 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


Most commentators divide the 
Commandments into two groups: 

The first four on man’s duty to 
a Supreme Being. 

The last six on man’s duty to 
man. | | 

For many reasons I found it 
better »toutake «ithe slatter i oroup 
first, beginning with No. V. 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


V. Against Disobedience. 


The law which imposes unrea- 
soning acceptance of the benefits 
derivable from the experience of 
those over us. This is the foun- 
dation of all government, since 
the family is the social unit. Its 
force everywhere is so seen that it 
scarcely needs proof. | 

A Hen sets out with her Chick- 
ens a-foraging; one loiters, does 
not hasten up at her “cluck cluck” 
of invitation and command; con- 
sequently he gets lost and dies. 

Another neglects to run to the 
spot when she calls in the estab- 
lished way that she has found 

7 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


“good food.” He is not so well 
nourished as the others; he be- 
comes a weakling, and in the first 
hard pinch he is the one that fails 
—he dies. 

Again, she may call out “ Hawk!” 
and run for shelter; the obedient 
ones run with her, and are safe; 
the disobedient loiter—and die. 
They pay the penalty, their days 
are short in the land. 

Yet again: A Black-bear in the 
Cincinnati Zoo produced a family 
of two cubs in January, 1879. 
When they were seventy-one days 
old, one of them left the den for 
the first time, and followed the 
mother in her quest for food. This 
in a wild state would have been a 

8 





THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


fatal mistake for the young one. 
“As soon as the mother found it 


9 


out,” Says Superintendent F. .J. 
Thompson, “she immediately drove 
it gently back, and on the second 
attempt she cuffed it soundly, which 
put a stop to its wandering propen- 
sity. After a few days she allowed 
the cubs to wander about at will, 
provided no one was immediately 
in front of the den; but so soon as 
a visitor put in an appearance, they 
were driven back into the den, 
and not allowed to emerge until 
the strangers were out of sight.” 
Under natural conditions this 
maternal rule was essential, and a 
breach of it meant death to the 


culprit. 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


When a mother Deer or Ante- 
lope sights, scents, or hears dan- 
ger, she quickly communicates her 
warning to her young. | 

How it is done, varies greatly 
with the species; some bleat or 
snort; others may merely spread 
the disk of white hair around the 
tail, but all give what is understood 
to be warning of danger. The 
young at once squat in the grass, 
and the mother goes forth to baffle 
the oc as \ best shet may. burme 
is essential to the little one and 
to the race that the warning be 
acted on promptly and fully. 

This action on the part of the 
young is purely instinctive—which 
means that the law of obedience 

10 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


has been a long, long time in suc- 
cessful operation. 

It would be easy to fill a vol- 
ume with incidents illustrating this 
rule. But it is well known among 
all naturalists that obedience to 
parents is vital, and disobedience 
on the part of the young means 
injury to themselves, and, if un- 
curbed death to. the ‘race: 


If 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


VI. Against Murder. 


That is, against taking the life of 
one of our own species. ‘There is 
a deep-rooted feeling against mur- 
der in most animals. Their senses 
tell them that this individual is one 
of their own race, and their instinct 
tells them that therefore it is not 
lawful prey. 

New-born Rattlesnakes will strike 
instantly at a stranger of any other 
species, but never at one of their 
own. I have seen a young Mink, 
still blind, suck at a mother Cat 
tilled; then) thy ito stakemnensliic: 
Though a creature of such blood- 
thirst, it would never have attacked 
its own mother. 

12 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


Wild animals often fight for the 
mastery, usually over a question 
of mates, but in practically all cases 
the fight is over when one yields. 
The vanquished can save himself 
either by submission or by flight. 
What is commoner than to see the 
weaker of two Dogs disarm his con- 
queror by grovelling on the ground? 

The victor in a fight between 
two Cats is satisfied when the foe 
flies; he will not pursue him 
twenty yards. In either case had 
the enemy been of a different race 
the victor would have followed and 

killed him. 
~' What makes the difference ? 
Obviously not a_ reasoned - out 
conclusion, but a deep instinctive 

13 . 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


feeling—the recognition of the un- 
written law against unnecessarily 
killing one’s own kind. 

There are doubtless exceptions 
to this. Cannibalism is recorded 
of many species; but investiga- 
tion shows that it is rare except 
in the lowest forms, and among 
creatures demoralized by domesti- 
cation or captivity. The higher 
the animals are, the more repug- 
nant does cannibalism become. It 
is seldom indulged in except un- 
der dire stress of famine. Noth- 
ing but actual starvation induced 
Nansen’s Dogs to eat the flesh of 
their comrades, although it was of- 
fered to them in a disguised form. 
Numberless experiences showed 

14 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


me that it is useless to bait a 
Wolf-trap with a part of a dead 
Wolf. His kinsmen shun it in dis- 
gust, unless absolutely famished. 

Obviously, no race can live by 
cannibalism; and this is instinc- 
tively recognized by all the higher 
animals. In other words, the law 
against murder has been ham- 
mered into animals by natural se- 
lection, and so fully established 
that they will not only abstain from 
preying on one of their own tribe, 
but will rally to rescue one whose 
life is threatened. 

The fact that there are excep- 
tional cases does not disprove 
the law among beasts any more 
than among men. 

15 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


VII. Against Impurity. 


Although. on the face of it di- 
rected against the grossest form 
of misapplied reproductive instinct, 
most commentators agree that it 
is meant to cherish the general 
principle of purity. 

Of what service is such a gen- 
eral principle to the race? A re- 
view of many creatures and their 
marriage customs shows that from 
the beginning they have been grop- 
ing for an ideal form of marriage. 

Promiscuity was doubtless the 
mode when first sex appeared in 
the animal world. It had the great 
advantage that it insures all find- 

16 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


ing mates with whom fruitful union 
is possible. But it has several dis- 
advantages, the most obvious be- 
ing that unlimited personal con- 
tact opens the way for epidemic 
diseases of all sorts. The less 
personal contact, the less disease. 

The promiscuous animals to-day 
—the Northwestern Rabbit and the 
Voles—are high in the scale of fe- 
cundity, low in the scale of general 
development, and are periodically 
scourged by epidemic plagues. 

The Chinaman who reduces per- 
sonal contact to a minimum by re- 
fraining even from shaking the hand 
of a friend, has gone to the extreme, 
and without doubt has had his re- 
ward. 

17 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


Another danger from this lawless 
reproduction is the evil called “in- 
breeding,” that is, the mating of 
near kin. 

Promiscuity has been displaced 
by polyandry and polygamy, among 
certain animals. That the former 
has not been a success is shown by 
the fact that it is very rare among 
the higher kinds, and practised only 
under exceptional circumstances. 

The few cases I can find are the 
European Cuckoo, and, possibly, the 
American Cowbirds. The extraor- 
dinary, hazardous and dishonest 
methods these are driven to for 
support of their young are well 
known. | 

The fact that these species are 

18 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


healthy and prospering is a puzzle 
to me. Nevertheless it must be 
observed that their parasitism is o7 
the other vaces, not on their own 
kind. 

Polygamy seems much more sat- 
isfactory: there are hundreds of spe- 
cies of polygamous animals in the 
world to-day that are prospering 
and growing with the world’s 
growth. 

On the face of it, polygamy might 
seem to be good, because it makes 
it possible for only the finest males 
to breed, and insures for them the 
greatest possible number of off- 
spring. 

This sounds convincing, but some 
unexpected light has been shed by 

19 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


Caton’s observation among the Wa- 
piti, the most polygamous of all our 
Weer. 

Referring to Sultan, the great bull 
Wapiti that for a longer time than 
any other was the monarch of the 
herd in his park, he says: * 

“At first his progeny were rea- 
sonably numerous, but during the 
last few years of his life they grad- 
ually diminished from a dozen to 
a single fawn in 1875, with about 
twenty-five females, more than half 
of which had previously produced 
fawns.’ He was removed, though 
yet able to hold the harem by force, 
and replaced by a younger buck; 
“the result was that I had twelve 


* Antelope and Deer of America, pp. 294-5. 
20 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


fawns the next season, including 
one pair of twins.” It is probable 
that a far better result would have 
been secured had each female been 
paired off with a single male. 

As the Wapiti is the most polyg- 
amous of the Deer in America, prob- 
ably in the world, it is interesting 
to note that it is the first of the 
family to disappear before civiliza- 
tion. This may be due in part to 
its size; but it is further remarkable 
that the most successful of all our 
true Deer, that is, the common 
White-tail, is the least polygamous. 

There is at least one strong 
and obvious objection to polygamy 
among animals: the offspring of 
such union have but one parent to 


om | 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


care for them, and the weaker one 
at that. 

It is commonly remarked that 
while the Mosaic law did not ex- 
pressly forbid polygamy, it sur- 
rounded marriage with so many 
restrictions that by living up to the 
spirit of them the Hebrew was ulti- 
mately forced into pure monogamy. 

It is extremely interesting to note 
that the animals in their blind grop- 
ing for an ideal form of union have 
gone through the same stages and 
have arrived at exactly the same 
conclusion. Monogamy is_ their 
best solution of the marriage ques- 
tion, and is the rule among all the 
highest and most successful ani- 
mals. 


22 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


There are four degrees of mo- 
nogamy : 

One, in which the male stays 
with one female as long as she 
interests him or desires a mate, 
then changes to another; for his 
season may be many times as long 
as hers. Thus he may have sev- 
eral wives in the season, but only 
one ata time. This is convenient 
for both parties, but it is open 
to the same objection as frank 
polygamy. It is the way of the 
Moose. 

A second kind, in which the 
male and one female are paired 
for that breeding season only, the 
male staying with the family, and 
sharing the care of the young till 


7? 
aot W 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


they are well grown; after which 
the parents may or may not re- 
sume their fellowship. This is 
admirable. It is seen in Hawks. 

A third, in which the pair con- 
sort for life, but the death of one 
leaves the other free to mate again. 
This is ideal. It is the way of 
Wolves. 

A fourth, in which they pair for 
life, and in case of death the sur- 
vivor remains disconsolate and 
alone to the end. This seems ab- 
surd. It is the way of the wild 
Geese. 

Upon the whole we find the ani- 
mals succeeding, that is, avoiding 
disease and holding their own, 
spreading, and high in the scale, 

24 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


in proportion as they approach the 
ideal union.* 

I confess, however, that monoga- 
my in the fourth degree puzzles me. 

In making observations, one is 
hampered by the fact that associa- 
tion with man has always been ruin- 
ous to the morals of animals. 

There can be no doubt that the 
Dog, now so promiscuous, was 
originally a monogamous creature. 
One of the great difficulties be- 
setting the growing of Blue-foxes 
for their fur, on the islands of the 
Behring Sea, 1s what has been 


* Dr. Woods Hutchinson in “Animal Mar- 
riage” has pointed out that other things being 
equal, a monogamous race will beat a polyga- 
mous one in the long run. 


25 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


called the obstinate and deplorable 
monogamy of those animals. The 
breeders are working hard to break 
down this high moral sentiment and 
produce a Blue-fox that does not 
object to polygamy, promiscuity, or 
any other combination, and so re- 
move all sentimental obstacles to 
their experiments. 

The wild Goose is a most ex- 
emplary bird; the tame Goose is 
little better than the Dog. Of 
Rabbits, wild or tame, the less said 
the better. 

There is, however, one domestic 
bird that maintains its honorable 
wild tradition in spite of all that 
sinful man can do -\'that is the 
Pigeon. The breeder knows that 

26 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


the young in a given nest are un- 
questionably the offspring of their 
alleged parents, no matter how 
many hundreds of their kind may 
freely fly with them all day. 

What wonder that Gadow, the 
distinguished ornithologist, should 
proclaim the Pigeons the birds of 
the future, implying that when, 
under the relentless unwritten laws, 
all other species shall have paid the 
penalty and run themselves out, the 
Pigeons will be happily possessing 
the earth. 

Similarly the most successful wild 
quadrupeds in American to-day are 
the Gray-welves. Not only have 
they through strict monogamy 
eliminated much possibility of dis- 

27 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


ease, and given their young the ad- 
vantage of two wise protectors, but 
they have even developed a spirit 
of chivalry; that is, the male shows 
consideration for the female in the 
non-mating season on account of 
her sex. This is very high in the 
scale," And /onew result) sath least 
partly due to these things, is that 
the Wolves defy all attempts to ex- 
terminate them, and are increasing 
to-day in exact ratio to the im- 
proved food supplies for which the 
settlers are responsible. 

The proverbial exceptions un- 
doubtedly occur, and they have 
their value as proof, not disproof. 

Immorality in its broadest sense 
may be defined as the deflection of 

28 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


any natural power, member, or in- 
stinct from its proper purpose to 
one that works harm for the species. 

Among animals we have recorded 
nearly every kind of abominable vice 
that was known among men, and 
forbidden by the Mosaic law. 

In captivity and domestication 
we see such things all too often, 
but rarely in a state of nature, partly 
because the cases are scarce and 
difficult to observe, and partly be- 
cause the creatures of vice soon 
destroy themselves; they pay the 
extreme penalty. 

Incest is admittedly forbidden by 
the spirit of this ordinance. The 
numberless contrivances among 
plants to prevent any but cross- 

a0 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


fertilization, evidence the impor- 
tance of preventing the marriage of 
near kin. Among higher animals, 
strange to tell, observation of this 
law is not so marked, probably 
because their safeguard is not a 
mechanism, but a sentiment, which 
suffers in domestication and in cap- 
tivity. It seems to exist, however. 

Mr. L. H. Ohnimus, for years 
the director of Woodward's Garden 
Menagerie at San Francisco, told 
me that often among higher ani- 
mals they had great difficulty in 
mating brother and sister that were 
brought up together. ‘The friendly 
feeling commonly overpowered the 
sex instinct. If, however, the pair 
were separated long enough to be 

30 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


brought together as practically 
Strangers of opposite sexes, the 
difficulty disappeared. 

But the penalty must be paid. 
The resultant young in most cases 
are feeble creatures, tending to die 
out in a generation or two, that is, 
paying with their death for the sin 
of their parents. This is physical 
law, and the fact that it was unwit- 
ting sin does not in any degree ab- 
solve the sinners from the conse- 
quences. 

To sum up: There is evidence 
that in the animal world there has 
long been a groping after an ideal 
form of marriage. Beginning with 
promiscuity, they have worked 
through many stages into pure 

31 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


monogamy; and, other things being 
equal, the species, owing to natural 
laws, are successful in proportion as 
they have reached it, and therefore 
have developed an instinctive rec- 
ognition of the seventh command- 
ment. 


32 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


VIII. Against Stealing. 


The whole property question is 
in this, and the high development 
of the property idea among animals 
must be a surprise to all who have 
not studied it. This is the animal 
law: 

Lhe producer owns the product ; 
unproduced property belongs to the 
first who discovers and possesses U1. 

Numberless instances in proof 
will occur to every naturalist. Prop- 
erty among animals consists of food, 
nest, playground, range, and wives. 
Ownership is indicated in two ways: 
one by actual possession, the other 
by ownership marks. Of these there 

33 , 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


are two kinds, smell marks and visi- 
ble marks; by far the more impor- 
tant are those of smell. 

I once threw peanuts for an hour 
to the Fox-squirrels in City Hall 
Park, Madison, Wisconsin. In each 
case, the peanut, when thrown, was 
no one’s property. All the near 
Squirrels rushed for it; the first one 
to get it securely in his mouth was 
admittedly the owner; his claim 
was never questioned after a few 
seconds’ actual possession. Ifhun- 
gry he ate it at once; otherwise his 
first act was to turn it round in his 
mouth three or four times, as he 
licked it, marking it with his own 
smell, before burying it for future 
use. 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


This is paralleled in many tribes 
of men. Eskimo of Davis Strait, 
according to Franklin, lick each 
new acquisition by way of taking 
possession. Sailors commonly spit 
on a new-got article, and boys, in 
the north of England at least, in- 
dicate the beginning of their own- 
ership in the same way. Many 
animals, as Rabbits and Bears, rub 
their bodies against trees in their 
range, to let other animals know 
that this place is already pos- 
sessed. Some creatures, as the 
Weasels, have glands that secrete 
an odor which they use for an 
owner-mark. As this odor must 
vary with each individual it an- 
swers admirably. I have seen 

35 | 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


Martens, Wolves, and Foxes mark- 
ing their property in this way. 
The Wolverine is commonly de- 
scribed as a monster of iniquity, 
that not only lugs off and hides 
the hunter’s food, but defiles it 
with his abominable secretion, so 
that it is useless to the original 
owner. It is quite certain that 
malice of this kind is unusual; 
although Dogs and Wolves, high 
in mental development, have been 
observed to show scorn in this 
manner. The Wolverine eats what 
he can of the trapper’s hoard, and 
hides the rest for future use, after 
taking care to mark it with his own- 
ership smell-mark. 

Foxes and Wolves are known to 

36 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


store up food, and after it is buried 
they defile the place in a charac- 
teristic way. Many harsh terms 
are applied to this practice. It 1s, 
or was formerly, ascribed to the 
inherent and abominable filthiness 
of all creation unregenerated in 
the particular manner specially 
advocated by the then critic. The 
fact is that the odor glands of the 
Fox and Wolf are so situated that 
their product is given out with 
the product of the kidneys. They 
do this, then, merely to put their 
mark on their cache. 

Thus they have the property in- 
stinct in high development. 

In the August of 1906, at Pe- 
toskey, Mich, I made the ac- 

37 | 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


- quaintance of a team of Eskimo 
train Dogs—they were seven- 
eighths Wolf, and showed all the 
wild traits in force. The leader, 
a big savage creature, was easily 
master of the others. I gave the 
smallest one a bone after he was 
already fed. True to the wild in- 
stinct of his kind, he set off to hide 
this for future use. The bone was 
buried under a cedar bush some 
hundred yards away, and the place 
marked in Dog fashion. The owner 
then retired about fifty yards to a 
Shady spot, where he could see his 
cache, and lay down. 

The biggest Dog of all saw the 
hiding of the bone, but did not 
see the watcher. He walked qui- 

38 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


etly to the cache. When. within 
twenty feet, there could no longer 
be any doubt of his purpose; the 
smaller Dog rushed from his cov- 
ert and stood guard over his prop- . 
erty, showing his teeth and clear- 
ly intimating that only over his 
dead body could the bully take 
his property. The big Dog, though 
he could have whipped the smaller 
in a minute, turned slowly and sul- 
lenly away, as though he knew his 
cause was weak. 

What is the psychology of this 
situation? (And it was purely 
psychological.) 

Can any one deny that the little 
Dog felt that he was right, the big 
Dog that he was wrong? In other 

39 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


words, they recognized the law of 
property, and that stealing was 
crime. 

Many instances of this kind 
could be adduced. The principle 
is very old, and has, indeed, given 
rise to several proverbs: “Any 
cock will fight on his own dung- 
hill”; “He is a poor thing that 
won't fight for his own”; “Thrice 
is he armed that hath his quarrel 
just,” etc. 

For how long are these caches 
made? In the case of domesticated 
Wolves they are opened and the 
contents eaten within a few hours 
or days at most. But I found it 
the opinion of hunters, that among 
the truly wild animals the cache 

40 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


is made in time of plenty for a sea- 
son of starvation, maybe months 
ahead. 

There is good reason for believ- 
ing, however, that the Wolf, Coy- 
ote and Fox have no compunction 
about stealing from each other. I 
found it a most alluring bait, if I 
buried a piece of meat, that is, 
formed a cache, and either made it 
fair game for Wolves by pattering 
the ground with an old Coyote 
foot, or leaving it with man tracks 
only around. Whether pattering 
it with a Wolf's foot would make 
other Wolves respect it, I am not 
_ prepared to say. 

The food idea is probably the 
first property idea. Ownership of 

AI 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


the home-place came later, but is 
now deeply rooted. 

Many cases in line have been re- 
ported to me from among rookeries 
in England. Rooks are ordinarily 
moral birds. A stick found in the 
woods is the property of the Rook 
that discovers it, and doubly his 
when he has labored to bring it to 
his nest. This is recognized law. 
Nevertheless there are degenerates 
or thieves that think it easier to 
steal sticks from their neighbor’s 
nest than to fetch them from afar. 
The result is war. 

In the autumn I put up opposite 
my window an artificial shelter hole 
for birds. A Flying-squirrel used 
it fora nest. In the spring I sev- 

42 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


eral times saw a pair of Chickadees 
peeping into the hole, but noting 
the nesting material, the evidence of 
a possessor, they withdrew without 
entering. If they knew that the 
occupant was a Squirrel, fear may 
have kept them back, and the inci- 
dent means nothing; but all they 
could see were some shreds of bark 
which might have represented the 
nest of another Chickadee, in which 
case they were restrained by the 
unwritten law. 

To get without labor is theft: 
and the thief and his children 
must be the sufferers in the end. . 

How does this work out in our’ 
animal world ? 

The Squirrel that will not store 

43 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


must starve or steal in winter. If 
he escapes being killed by his hon- 
est neighbors, the vice of stealing 
will spread, so that it will no longer 
be worth while to store up for 
winter, and the habit will be aban- 
doned. 

We must remember that the 
lives of animals are in a delicate 
balance; at times a featherweight 
easily turns the scales against them. 
A single hard winter among Squir- 
rels that had been forced to aban- 
don storage, might wipe out the 
whole race. 

So also among Rooks. The thief 
taken red-handed may suffer griev- 
ous bodily punishment, or even 
death; this is the objective retribu- 

44 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


tion. But the subjective is farther 
reaching, for a spread of the vice 
would prove ruinous to all the nests, 
and tend to exterminate the race. 

Out of the food-property instinct 
has grown the territory-property 
instinct. Bears, Martens, Foxes, 
Wolves, and many other species 
mark their range by putting their 
signs on trees, stones, etc., scattered 
over the region claimed. 

Bears not only rub their backs 
on the trees, but claw them and 
tear them with their teeth. These 
things are familiar to all who have 
lived among Bears. The visible 
marks may appeal to the eyes of 
another Bear when he its far off, but 
the smell record is, I take it, of chief 

45 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


importance, and is the only one used 
by Wolves and Foxes. 

These are the marks of ownership: 
to what extent are they respected ? 

It is well known that each wild 
animal has a little home region or 
range that he considers his, and for 
which he will fight. But it is not 
so well known that others of his 
kind will respect his claim without 
any fight, without anything, appar- 
ently, but the little sign-boards or 
smell-marks already noted. Dr. F. 
W. True, writing of the Blue-foxes 
on the islands of the Behring Sea 
and their tameness, says one of 
them will follow a man for a long 
way, apparently hoping to be fed, 
will follow indeed “to the bound- 

46 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


ary of his domain, for each Fox, 
like his neighbor, the bull Seal, 
seems to have a definite territory 

. . which he regards as his own, 
and upon which he resents in- 
trusion.” * 

From these examples it will be 
seen that the operation of natural 
laws has produced in the animals 
ideas of property rights in materials 
and in places, and means of putting 
those rights on record. ‘That is, 
has tended to give ever-growing 
force to the law against stealing. 


* Fox Propagation in Alaska, Rep. Sec. Int., 
1903, p. 280. 


47 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


IX. Against False Witness. 


Although the commandment for- 
bids especially false witness against 
a neighbor, it is generally consid- 
ered to have a broader meaning— 
to prohibit any falsification. 

In Fox-hunting the character of 
every Hound becomes well known, 
not only to the men, but to the 
Hounds themselves. When they are 
scattered for a “find,” each Hound 
does his individual best and is keen 
to be first. Oftentimes a very young 
Hound will jump at a conclusion, 
think, or hope, he has the trail, then 
allowing his enthusiasm to carry him 
away, give the first tongue, shout- 

48 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


ing in Hound language, “Trail!” 
The other Hounds run to this, but if 
a careful examination shows that he 
was wrong, the announcer suffers in, 
the opinion of the pack, and after a 
few such blunders, that individual 
is entirely discredited. Thenceforth 
he may bawl “Trail!” as often as 
he likes, no one heeds him. 

The spread of such a habit of false 
witness would be disastrous to the 
whole race of Dogs in a wild state. 
They would discredit each other. 
All the enormous benefits derivable 
from collaboration would be lost to 
them; and since it takes but a little 
thing long continued in the struggle 
for life to work great changes, it is 
easily conceivable that this vice of 

49 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


lying might exterminate the race 
that became addicted to it. 

The wild animals no doubt afford 
safer instances, but they are so dif- 
ficult of observation that few are at 
hand. One of the most remarkable 
cases in point is among Wolves. I 
do not know that the incident is 
true, but it-sounds true, and there 
is no inherent reason why it should 
not be so. The story appeared in 
the “Leisure Hour” in the volume 
of 1892-3, and was written by 
FE. L. Hickey. 


It was many and many a league away 
from the place where now we are, 

And many a year ago it happ’ed in the 
land of the Great White Czar. 


50 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


It was morn—I remember how cold it 
felt—out under a low pale sky, 
When we moored our boat on the river 

bank, my companion Leigh and I. 
And the plunge in the water unwarmed 
of the sun was less for desire than 
pluck, 
And we hurried on our clothes again 
and longed for our breakfast luck ; 
When all of a sudden he clutched my 
arm and pointed across, and there 
We stood up side by side and watched, 
and as mute as the dead we were. 


We saw the gray-wolf’s fateful spring, 
and we saw the death of the deer. 

And the gray-wolf left the body alone, 
and swift as the feet of fear 

His feet sped over the brow of the hill, 
and we lost the sight of him 

Who had left the dead deer there on the 
ground uneaten, body or limb. 


a 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


So when he vanished out of our sight 
we rowed our boat across, 

And lifted the carcass and rowed again 
to the other side. The loss 

For you, good Master Wolf, much more 
than the gain for us will be. 

'T were half a pity to spoil your sport, 
except that we fain would see 

The reason why with hunger unstanched 
you have left your quarry behind ; 

Red-toothed, red-mawed, foregone your 
meal; Sir Wolf, we'll know your 
mind. 


Hungry and cold we waited and watched 
to see him return on his track ; 

At last we spied him atop of the hill, 
the same gray-wolf come back, 

No longer alone, but a leader of wolves, 
the head of a grewsome pack. 

He went right up to the very place 
where the dead deer’s body had lain, 


52 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


And he sniffed and looked for the prey 
of his claws, the beast that himself 
had slain. 

The deer at our feet and the river be- 
tween and the searching all in vain. 

He threw up his muzzle and slunk his 
tail and whined so pitifully, 

And the whole pack howled and fell on 
him—we hardly could bear to see. 

Breaker of civic law, or pact, or what- 
ever they deemed of him, 

He knew his fate and he met his fate, 
for they tore him limb from limb. 


I tell you we felt as we ne’er felt since 
ever our days began— 

Less like men that had cozened a brute 
than men that had murdered a man. 


This, of course, was a tragic mis- 
carriage of justice, but the princi- 
a 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


ple is well known. All the high- 
er animals profit by each other's 
knowledge through methods of 
intercommunication. Falsification 
would certainly work dire disaster. 


54 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


X. Against Coveting. 


The broad principle of this com- 
mandment is against unduly han- 
kering for a neighbor’s property, 
against scheming to dispossess 
him. 

A remarkable case has occurred 
many times of late in the country 
around Yellowstone Park. It may 
have present application. 

A band of Wapiti drifting south- 
ward to their winter range came 
on the haystack of a pioneer. It 
was so fenced in that they could 
not get near, but it smelt so de- 
sirable that the band lingered 
about it, hoping some time to get 

55 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


possession. ‘Thus the days passed, 
the Deer grew weaker, winter came 
down, and the whole band per- 
ished; whereas, had they moved 
on or worked to find their proper 
food they would, as often before, 
have come safely through to the 
spring. 

In this case I am by no means 
sure of the principle involved, and 
cite the incident with much hesi- 
tancy. A weak spot in the illus- 
tration is the circumstance that the 
possessor of the stack was zot an- 

other Elk. 
A more nearly pertinent circum- 
stance was recently told me by a 
ainend.A 


* Mr. H. Dallas, of Morristown, Ohio. 
56 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


Under the barn eaves at his 
home a colony of Swallows had 
for long been established. In the 
spring of 1885 a pair of Bluebirds 
came and took forcible possession 
of one of the nests. The owners 
first tried to oust the invaders, 
next the whole Swallow colony 
joined in the attempt, without suc- 
cess. The Bluebird inside was en- 
trenched behind hard mud walls, 
and defied them. At length the 
Swallows came in a body, each 
with a pellet of mud, and walled 
up the entrance to the nest. The 
Bluebird in possession starved to 
death, and was found there ten 
days later. 

In this case the retribution came 

ey 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


direct from the Swallows, in obedi- 
ence to the inner impulse. But it 
is clear that Bluebirds adopting 
habitually these methods of nest- 
ing would become parasites de- 
pendent on the Swallows; this ad- 
ditional burden might easily turn 
the balance of nature against the 
Swallows, ending in their death 
as a species and, of course, the 
death of their dependents. 

A. still more obvious episode I 
have seen many times in the barn- 
yard. A Hen had made a nest in 
a certain place, and was already 
sitting. Later another Hen, de- 
siring the same nest, took posses- 
sion several times during the own- 
er’s brief absence, adding some of 

58i, 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


her own eggs, and endeavoring: to 
sit. The result was a state of war, 
and the eggs of both Hens were 
destroyed. 

It is not easy to say whether 
this was coveting or stealing, but 
I find it equally difficult to dis- 
criminate between the two laws 
that forbid these things. 


This was the last of the lower 
group of commandments, and here 
my pathway seemed to end. If 
the next in order merely enforced 
a period of rest among toilers, then 
could I find illustrations among all 
toilers. But this would be a phys- 
ical interpretation, and would take 
it out of the superior class of ordi- 

59 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


nances, where commentators gen- 
erally agree that it belongs. They 
maintain that its purpose is to 
Set apart a time for spiritual 
matters, and of this there was no 
discernible recognition in my field. 
I could find nothing in the ani- 
mal world that seemed to sug- 
gest any relation to a Supreme 
Being. 

Therefore I reformed my theory 
to fit the new facts, and presented 
it thus: 

The first four commandments 
have a purely spiritual bearing ; 
the last six are physical. Man is 
concerned with all, the animals 
only with the last six. 

I was also struck by the thought 

60 | 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


that in all cases the ultimate penalty 
is death. 

There was another, a disappoint- 
ing conclusion forced on me. It 
seems that law exists only between 
members of the same species. Wolf 
and Wolf have law, Crow and Crow, 
Weasel and Weasel, Mouse and 
Mouse even, but never so far as I 
can see, Wolf and Mouse, or Crow 
and Weasel. There is nothing but 
bitter war between them; their 
might is their right. 

We should not marvel at this, 
however, Since it was ever thus with 
man until the latest light came. 
Ask any savage which 1s worse, to 
steal some trifling article, the prop- 
erty of his tribesman, or to massa- 

61 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


cre a family of the neighboring tribe. 
He will as surely answer the former 
as we should the latter. 

Only in his highest development 
zs man capable of the broad love 
and sympathy that take in all the 
human vace, and extend even to 
the beasts of the field. 

With this conclusion then I was 
forced to halt the investigation: 
That we may find in the animals . 
the beginnings of man’s physical 
and mental attributes, but not a 
vestige of foundation for his spirit- 
ual nature. And the conclusion 
seemed the end. Because the trail 
became obscured I thought it went 
no further. But a faint glimmering 
of light came unexpectedly. 

62 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


My twenty-five years of journals 
had been copied and the copies cut 
up so that incidents referring to 
each subject might easily be filed. 
I found several new subjects well 
represented, such as the evolution 
of sanitation, amusement, intercom- 
munication, etc., and a final depart- 
ment of unexplained strange im- 
stances; when I got many of these 
together I found that they began 
to explain each other. To make 
this clear I give several of them 
now: 

Ist. Dr. G. B. Grinnell tells me 

that when out shooting with General 

Custer’s party near the Black Hills 

in 1874, they observed a Falcon in 

pursuit of a wild Pigeon; when the 
63 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


latter saw that it could not escape 
its winged foe, it took refuge among 
the men, resting on one of the 
saddles. 

2d. Mr. Geo. F. Guernsey, of 
Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, 
writes me that some years ago a 
neighbor and his wife standing in 
their cattle yard saw a pack of five 
Coyotes chasing a Fox. The Fox 
was pretty nearly spent; it ran 
finally right up to the woman, 
and crouched for protection at her 
feet. 

3d. In the December of 1886, I 
was hunting Snow-shoe Rabbits in 
a little grove near Carberry. The 
one I was pursuing escaped. It was 
an exceedingly cold day, some 35 

64 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


degrees below zero. I laid my gun 
on my sleigh and busied myself 
lighting a fire to make some tea. 
As I cowered over this trying to 
think I was getting warm, I saw a 
Rabbit running through the little 
grove. It ran past me some forty 
yards away; then I noticed some 
twenty-five feet behind it another 
Rabbit running very fast in pursuit. 
The first circled round, came nearer. 
Now I saw that the smaller Rabbit 
was not a Rabbit at all, but a white 
Weasel, an Ermine, that was run- 
ning the Rabbit down. The chase 
continued around me, but ever 
nearer. Though so much swifter 
the Rabbit was losing because the 
paralysis of terror was setting in. 
05 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


The Weasel was within a few feet 
of his victim and ready for the final 
spring, when that Rabbit made a 
rush toward me, and took refuge 
under the sleigh near my feet— 
came to me, who had been trying to 
kill it a few minutes before. 

The Weasel flashed about and 
under the snow, curling his nose 
a little; then realizing that he was 
probably running into danger, dart- 
ed under brush and snow to vanish. 
The Rabbit cowered at my feet 
for a few minutes, but recovered 
and hopped away in another di- 
rection. 

4th. In the October of 1898, I 
was riding across the Bighorn Basin 
(Wyoming) with Mrs. Seton and 

66 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


Mr. A. A. Anderson, when we no- 
ticed near the horizon some bright 
white specks. They were moving 
about, disappearing and showing 
again. Then two of them seemed 
to dart erratically over the plain, 
keeping always just so far apart. 
Soon these left the others and ca- 
reered about like twin meteors, this 
way and that, then our way; at first 
in changing line, but later directly 
toward us. 

Their wonderful speed soon ate 
up the intervening mile or two, and 
we now saw Clearly that they were 
Antelope, one in pursuit of the 
other. High over their heads a 
Golden Eagle was sailing. 

On they came; the half-mile 

67 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


snrank to a couple of hundred 
yards, and we saw that they were 
bucks, the hinder one larger, dash- 
ing straight toward us still. As 
they yet neared we could see 
the smaller one making desperate 
efforts to avoid the savage lunges 
of the big one’s horns, and barely 
maintaining the scant six feet that 
were between him and his foe. 

We reined up to watch, for now 
it was clear that the smaller buck 
had been defeated in battle with 
an exceptionally vicious rival, and 
was trying to save his life by flight. 
But his heaving flanks and gaping, 
dribbling mouth showed that he 
could not hold out much longer. 
Straight on he came toward us, the 

68 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


deadliest foes of his race, the ones 
he fears the most. 

He was between two deaths— 
which should he choose? He 
seemed not to hesitate—the two 
hundred yards shrank to one hun- 
dred, the hundred to fifty—then 
the pursuer slacked his speed. It 
would be folly to come farther. 
The fugitive kept on until he 
dashed right in among our startled 
horses. The Eagle alighted on the 
rock two hundred yards away. 

The victorious buck veered off, 
shaking his sharp black horns and 
circling at a safe distance around 
our cavalcade to intercept his 
victim when he should come out 
the other side. But the victim did 

69 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


not come out. He felt he was 
saved, and he stayed with us. The 
other buck seeing that he was 
balked, gave up the attempt, and 
turning back, sailed across the plain 
till he became again a white speck 
that joined the other specks, no 
doubt the does that had caused the 
duel. 

The vanquished buck beside us 
stood panting, with his tongue out, 
and showing every sign of dire dis- 
tress. It would have been easy to 
lasso him, but none of us had any 
desire to do him harm. Ina very 
short time he regained his wind, 
and having seen his foe away to a 
safe distance, he left our company 
to go off in the opposite direction. 

70 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


The Eagle realized now that he 
was mistaken in supposing that 
something was to be killed, and 
that there would be pickings for 
him. He rose in haste and soared . 
to a safe distance. 

5th. This I heard from George 
Crawford, the well-known guide of 
Mattawa; it was corroborated by 
others in camp: 

In March, 1888, while out with 
his partner to catch Moose for Dr. 
S. Webb, he came on a Moose- 
calf track in the deepsnow. There 
was no sign of a cow, so they turned 
their Dog loose. Very soon they 
heard him barking, and came up to 
the calf. It rushed toward them 
with bristling mane. His partner 

71 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


ran away, and he got behind a tree. 
The calf charged up to him and 
quickly wheeled to face the Dog. 
It paid no heed to the man then, 
but when he turned homeward it 
followed him for protection, crowd- 
ing up close and watching the Dog, 
At home he put a halter on it, and 
it allowed him to lead it quietly 
into the stable. It was shipped to 
Dr. Webb, and is now roaming the 
Adirondacks. 

6th. The following was related 
to me by Edouard Créte, of Deux 
Rivieres : 

In late September of 1893, a 
mail-carrier was starting from Bear 
Lake to Deux Riviéres. Créte 
showed him a short cut over Brulé 

72 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


Lake. Some hours later two men 
were out that way looking for axe- 
handles, and heard the mail-carrier 
shouting for help. Instead of go- 
ing to him they ran back to camp 
in great fear. The foreman picked 
up a rifle and, accompanied by 
Créte, went as fast as possible to 
the place. They heard the shout- 
ing as soon as they came within 
a half-mile. When near enough, 
he called out: “A Moose has got 
me up a tree.’ They came close, 
and saw it was a cow Moose. She 
would neither go away nor charge. 
Indeed, she paid. no attention to 
them. The foreman, Jean Bas- 
quin, walked up within twenty 
yards and shot her. 
i 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


The miail-carrier, it seems, had 
come on the cow suddenly. She — 
was alone, but came toward him 
squealing. Her mane was up, and 
she seemed to be threatening him. 
He had nothing but a hatchet, so 
ran for a tree, and happened to 
find one leaning so much that he 
could walk up. She ran behind 
him within touching distance all 
the way, but did not strike at him. 
The tree at the highest point was 
only ten feet up. Here the man 
sat, the Moose below. She could 
easily have struck him, but made 
no attempt to do so. ‘There she 
stayed watching him; her mane 
bristled all the time. 

When she heard the other men 

74 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


coming she merely turned her head, 
but during the three hours that 
she kept the man up that tree she 
did not leave the spot for a mo- 
ment. 

When examined after skinning, 
her left side was found in a dread- 
ful condition. Evidently she had 
been attacked by a bull Moose 
some days before. The horns had 
pierced her flank in five places. 
The side was all inflamed and mat- 
ter had formed in four places. She 
must have been suffering great pain, 
and would surely have died before 
long. They could not make out 
why she should go to the man, but 
it is quite certain she was not there 
to do him any harm, for she had 

i) 


THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 


every opportunity and did not 
strike at him once. 

Why then the angry bristling of 
her mane? Perhaps it was not 
anger. It may have been any other 
intense feeling. It is not easy to 
discriminate so finely the expres- 
sions of animal emotion. We only 
know that she was greatly wrought 
up about something. 


These are the incidents. They 
seem to have a common principle. 
Divested of externals, what is the 
cardinal thought in each? This, I 
take it—that when the animals are 
in terrible trouble, when they have 
done all that they can do, and are 
face to face with despair and death, 

70s 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


there is then revealed in them an 
instinct, deep-laid—and deeper laid 
as the animal is higher— which 
prompts them in their dire ex- 
tremity to throw themselves on the 
mercy of some other power, not 
knowing, indeed, whether it be 
friendly or not, but very sure that 
it 1s Superior. 


Here perhaps is the looked-for 
light. I was seeking in the animal 
nature for beginnings of the spir- 
itual life in man, for something that 
might respond to the four higher 
ordinances. Maybe in this instinct 
of the brute in extremity, we have 
revealed the foundation of some- 
thing which ultimately had its high- 


77 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 


est development in man, reaching, 
indeed, like the Heathen Thinker’s 
Tree, from root in the earthy dark- 
ness to its fruit in the Realm of 
Light. 


78 


i 


bey 
a ie 


¢ 


ibs 








Sa eae 
ee 


—— 


x 
A 
ry 
ry, 
v 
if) 


a , 
aR y 
ee, Reve es 

ae i aye AN 


2) 





DATE DUE 


. = Pi 
. 3, 


ee 


PRINTEDINU.S.A. 


GAYLORD 








